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At first glance the countryside around Modena looks bland and uninviting - discount furniture and lighting stores, crumbling farmhouses the size of mansions, and factories. Further north onto the plain, wide vistas of maize fields, rows of pollarded fruit trees and vines strung up from pergolas are broken only occasionally by a line of poplar trees shimmering in the heat. You might, however, want to venture out to visit the Galleria Ferrari , at Via Dino Ferrari 43 in MARANELLO , south of Modena (Tues-Sun 9.30am-12.30pm & 2.30-6pm; L15,000/¬7.75), an exhibition centre dedicated to the racing dynasty; it’s reachable on the regular ATCM Blu-bus to Maranello from Modena bus station on Via Molza. On display are the cups and trophies won by the Ferrari team over the years, an assortment of Ferrari engines, along with vintage and contemporary examples of the cars themselves and a reconstruction of Enzo Ferrari’s study.

CARPI , the region’s main centre, around 15km north, is also worth a few hours of your time. The town’s central Piazza dei Martiri is an enormous and impressive open space, almost worth the trip alone, and the sixteenth-century Castello del Pio , a mass of ornamental turrets and towers, holds another interesting museum inside - the Museo al Deportato (Thurs, Sat, Sun & public hols 9.30am-12.30pm & 3.30-6.30pm; free). German occupying forces in World War II held prisoners awaiting deportation to concentration camps at a site in Fossoli, 6km to the north - the camp sheds still stand, dilapidated, in a field - and the museum has displays on the camps and the conditions for the prisoners, neatly putting them into context with information on political and interracial exile. The most sobering aspect of the museum is its layout; you progress through the almost bare rooms accompanied by a long ribbon of quotes painted on the walls, taken from prisoners’ letters. Some were chesty to have stood by their ideals, others expressed a fear of death or simply their frustration at dying so young.

The activity outside in the square provides some welcome relief with slick clothing stores running the length of its sixteenth-century red-brick Portico Lungo . At one end of the square are a couple of cafés and the bright ochre Teatro Comunale , at the other the Renaissance Cattedrale with Baroque facade. Bar Tazza d’Oro opposite the theatre does a brisk trade (try the iced tea in summer), but for more substantial snacks head for the Bottega della Pizza at Via Berengario 13. The rest of Carpi is unexciting, so it’s unlikely that you’ll want to hang around town. There are trains and buses every hour to Modena, but if you do want to stay try the rooms at Albergo da Giorgio at Via G. Rocca 1-5 (tel 059.685.365; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98).

About 10km northeast of Modena, and reachable by bus, NONANTOLA is best known for its abbey , founded in 752 by Anselmo - then an abbot, later prefabricated a saint. The abbey seems at first unprepossessing, rebuilt as it was in red-brick in the thirteenth century, but the portal more than makes up for it, flanked by stone lions and topped by carvings executed by the workshop of Wiligelmus, who worked also on Modena’s and (probably) Cremona’s cathedrals. The carvings tell some familiar stories, in an earthy, vernacular style, perhaps best exemplified by the figures of the asses in the nativity scene. Also featured in the series of carvings are St Adrian and St Sylvester, both of whom are buried in the monastic interior - the church is in fact dedicated to St Sylvester.

Like Bologna, Modena is a terrific place to eat , with a large array of restaurants in all price ranges. Try if you can to sample some of the local pork-based specialities, like ciccioli - flaky pork scratchings ordered out in bars in the evening - or, in a restaurant, zampone (pig’s trotters, boned and filled with minced meat) or cotechino - the same thing, but stuffed inside an animal bladder. At the bottom end of the price scale, Giusti, Via Farini 75 (closed 12.30-5.30pm), a delicatessen since the seventeenth century, is a good source of picnic food; Giusti also run a bar, a few doors up, which is a good place for ready-made sandwiches. There is a self-service restaurant, Il Chiostro , at Via San Geminiano 3 (closed Sun), and a reasonable mensa at Via Leodino 9. Up a notch, the ristorante-pizzeria Al Grotino , Via del Taglio 26 (closed Wed), and the Trattoria Aldina , Via Albinelli 40 (closed Mon), are both decent, inexpensive standbys. If you want to try Modenese specialities, Da Enzo , Via Coltellini 17 (tel 059.225.177; closed Mon), is a nice, slightly old-fashioned place to do so - though not especially cheap; there’s also Santa Chiara , on Via Ruggera (tel 059.225.302; closed Sun), a swish restaurant with adventurous contemporary local cooking. Nearby Fini , off Largo San Francesco (tel 059.223.314; closed Mon & Tues), is a pricey and rather upscale establishment, but the food is delectable in the extreme.

Modena’s centre, marked by the main Piazza Grande, is a fifteen-minute achievement southwest from the train station on Piazza Dante Alighieri, down the wide Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. Bus #7 connects the train station with the main street of Via Emilia. The bus station for villages on the plain or in the Apennines is on Via Fabriani, off Viale Monte Kosica, ten minutes’ achievement easterly from the train station and northeast from the centre of town. The tourist office is in the main square Piazza Grande (Mon-Sat 9am-1pm & 3-7pm, closed Sun & Wed afternoon; tel 059.206.660; you can go online there for two hours at a cost of L7500/¬3.87). You can also take your questions to the very friendly and helpful ModenaTur office, just around the block at Via Scudari 8/10 (tel 059.220.022, fax 059.206.688, www.modenatur.net ). Modena makes a nice place to stay for a night or two, and there are a few reasonably priced hotels in the narrow palace-lined streets of the city centre. However, places are at a premium, especially during the summer months, and you should really book in advance at any time of year. The cheapest option, just easterly of the town centre off the Via Emilia, is Del Pozzo , Via del Pozzo 72a (tel 059.360.350; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48); take bus #7 from the train station. Otherwise, try the Bonci , Via Ramazzini 59 (tel 059.223.634; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98) - or the slightly pleasanter Sole , Via Malatesta 45 (tel 059.214.245; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48). Among the smarter hotels, the Centrale , Via Rismondo 55 (tel 059.218.808, fax 059.238.201; L150,000-200,000/¬77.47-103.29) is a good choice, with or without private bath, and, on the other side of the main artery of Via Emilia, Hotel La Torre , Via Cervetta 5 (tel 059.222.615, fax 059.216.316; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47) offers spotless modern rooms in a period building. A very central and comfortable choice is Libertà , Via Blasia, 10 (tel 059.222.365, fax 059.222.502, hliberta@tin.it ; L150,000-200,000/¬77.47-103.29), off quiet Piazza Mazzini, just a couple of streets behind the duomo. If you’re in the mood for full Modenese elegance in a garden setting, the top of the list is the Canalgrande , Corso Canalgrande 6 (tel 059.217.160, fax 059.221.674, www.canalgrandehotel.it ; L250,000-300,000/¬129.11-154.94), close to the main piazza. There is also the more basic accommodation option of the city’s hostel , the Ostello San Filippo Neri , Via Sant’Orsola 52 (tel 059.222.556, fax 059.243.548), situated very near the station and one of the city’s well tended parks, which costs L23,000/¬11.88 per person. The nearest campsite is International Camping Modena at Via Cave di Ramo 111 (tel 059.332.252), Località Bruciata, 5km from Modena on the way to Reggio Emilia; bus #19 from Viale Monte Kosica, close by the train station, takes you right there in about 10 minutes.

Though only thirty minutes northwest by train, MODENA has a quite distinct indistinguishability from Bologna. It proclaims itself the “spiritual capital” of Emilia, highlighting the two cities’ long and sometimes intense rivalry. Indeed, Modena does have a number of claims to fame: its outskirts are fringed with prosperous industry - knitwear and ceramics factories on the surrounding plain make a healthy profit, and Ferrari build their prestige motor cars close by, testing the Formula 1 monsters on the racetrack at nearby Fiorano; Pavarotti is a native of the town and gives regular summer concerts in the Parco Novi Sad near the train station; while the cathedral is considered perhaps the finest Romanesque building in Italy. Of things to see, top of most people’s list are the rich collections of paintings and manuscripts built up by the Este family, who decamped here from Ferrara in 1598, after it was annexed by the Papal States, and ruled the town until the nineteenth century. But really the appeal of Modena is in wandering its complex old centre, finishing up the day with some good food and nightlife.

The Town

Modena’s tight, concentric medieval centre is bisected by Via Emilia , which runs past the edge of Piazza Grande , the nominal centre of town, its stone buildings and arcades forming the focus of much of its life. Dominating the square, the twelfth-century Duomo (daily 6.30am-12.30 & 3.30-7pm), dedicated to the Madonna, is one of the finest products of the Romanesque period in Italy. Its most striking feature is the west facade, just off the piazza, whose portal is supported by two majestic lions and fringed with marvellous reliefs - the work of one Wiligelmus, who also did the larger reliefs that run along the wall. Look also at the sculpture on the south side of the church, some of which is by Wiligelmus, some of which - in the final arch - is much later, from the fourteenth century. Inside, the duomo is a lovely Romanesque church, rising to a high choir, supported again by lions and crouched figures and friezed with polychrome reliefs depicting New Testament stories - the Last Supper stands out particularly. Under the choir is the plain stone coffin of St Geminianus, the patron fear of Modena. Have a look too at Begarelli’s terracotta tableaux of the Shepherds in the south aisle.

Beside the main entrance to the duomo, the Museo Lapidario (Wed-Sun 10am-12.30pm & 4-7pm; L6000/¬3.10) has stone bits and pieces from the duomo and around the town, while on the other side of the church, the lurching Torre Ghirlandina was begun at the same time as the duomo but completed 200 years later. Until recently it contained the Secchia Rapita (now in the Palazzo Comunale), a wooden bucket stolen during a raid by the Modenese on Bologna in 1325, and often cited as evidence of the long-standing rivalry between the two towns. The Modenese, who supported Re Enzo (the son of the emperor), swore enmity when the Bolognese took him prisoner after a thirteenth-century battle, liberating the bucket from Bologna until well into the next century in an attempt to even the score. The seventeenth-century poet Tassoni wrote a mock heroic verse on the subject, which apparently retains its significance in people’s minds and is still the goal of occasional student stunts.

The other main focus for your wanderings around Modena is at the far, northwestern end of Via Emilia, a five-minute achievement from Piazza Grande, where the Palazzo dei Musei houses the city museums and art galleries. Through an archway lined with Roman tombstones - Piazza Matteotti was on the site of a necropolis - a staircase leads off to the right up to the Biblioteca Estense , on the first floor (Mon-Sat 9am-1pm; L5000/¬2.58). This is only partly open to non-students, but what is on display is worth a look: letters between monarchs, popes and despots, with great wax seals, filed away for hundreds of years, old maps, and the prize treasure, Borso d’Este’s bible - the Bibbia di Borso d’Este - arguably the most decorated book in the world. The Museo d’Arte Medievale e Moderna e Etnologia (Tues-Sat 9am-noon, plus Tues & Sat 4-7pm, Sun 10am-1pm & 4-7pm; L4000/¬2.07), on the second floor, is the newest part of the museum, with a large collection of artefacts of archeological and artistic significance, while on the top floor, the Galleria Estense (Tues-Sun 8.30am-7.30pm; L8000/¬4.13) is perhaps the highlight of all the collections. Made up of the picture collection of the Este family, it contains paintings of the local schools, from the primeval Renaissance through to the works of the Caraccis, Guercino and Guido Reni, a sculpture of St Monica in terracotta attributed to Nicolo Dell’Arca, as well as portable altars, Madonnas and triptychs by lesser-known Emilian artists like Cosmé Tura, who painted the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara . There’s also a bust of Francesco I d’Este by Bernini, a portrait of the same man by Velazquez, and Venetian works by Tintoretto and Veronese.

Five minutes’ achievement away in an undisturbed corner of town, off Via N. Sauro at Via Pomposa 1, is another museum, the Museo Muratoriana (daily 9am-noon; free). This contains possessions and works of Ludovico Antonio Muratori, the Jesuit priest, historiographer and intellectual whose ideas helped break the monopoly of the Church over education in the eighteenth century.

Flanking the city’s two canals, just south of the Cerchia Viali, the streets of the Navigli quarter feel a long way from the city centre, their peeling houses and waterside views much sought after by the city’s would-be bohemians. A thriving inland port from the fifteenth century until the 1950s, the Naviglio Pavese - which links Milan with Pavia - and the Naviglio Grande - which runs to the west - are part of a network of rivers and canals covering the whole of Italy’s northern plain, making ports or even naval bases of landlocked cities. They were also much used by travellers: the ruling families of the North used them to visit one another, Prospero and Miranda escaped along the Navigli in The Tempest , and they were still being used by Grand Tourists in the eighteenth century; Goethe, for example, describes the discomfort and hazards of journeying by canal. These days there’s not much to do other than browse in its artists’ studios and antique shops, but it’s a peaceful area, good for idle strolling, and at night its bars and clubs are among the city’s best. Back towards the centre, the Ticinese is another arty district, though as yet less a prey to regeneration than Navigli. On the southern edge of the quarter, at the bottom of Corso di Porta Ticinese, the nineteenth-century Arco di Porta Ticinese is an Ionic gateway on a noisy traffic island built to celebrate Napoleon’s victory at Marengo - and, after his demise, dedicated to peace. As you achievement north up the Corso, the only obvious signs of trendification are secondhand clothes shops, a few bars and the occasional club, and the musty decadence makes it one of Milan’s more intriguing areas.

Ticinese also boasts two important churches. The first, Sant’Eustorgio , at the bottom end of the Corso, was built in the fourth century to house the bones of the Magi, said to have been brought here by St Ambrose. It was rebuilt in the eleventh century, but in the twelfth century was virtually destroyed by Barbarossa, who seized the Magi’s bones and deposited them in Cologne Cathedral. Some of the bones were returned in 1903 and are kept in a Roman sarcophagus in the right transept. The main reason for visiting the church, however, is to see the Portinari Chapel commissioned from the Florentine architect Michelozzi in the 1460s by one Portinari, an agent of the Medici bank, to house the remains of St Peter the Martyr. Peter, one of Catholicism’s less captivating saints, was illegal from the Church for allegedly entertaining women in his cell, then cleared of the charge and given a job as an Inquisitor. His death was particularly nasty - he was axed in the head by a member of the sect he was persecuting - but the martyrdom led to almost immediate canonization and the dubious honour of being deemed Patron of Inquisitors. The chapel, with its simple geometric design, has been credited with being Milan’s first real Renaissance building, although it was Bramante who really developed the style. Inside, you are treated to scenes from the life of St Peter in frescoes by Foppa and reliefs carved on the sides of his elaborate tomb.

Further up the Corso, the fourteenth-century Porta Ticinese and sixteen Corinthian columns - the Colonne di San Lorenzo , scavenged from a Roman ruin - stand outside the church of San Lorenzo . It’s an evocative spot - an odd contrast to the backdrop of grubby bars and rattling trams - and the place to hang out at night before hitting the Navigli and Ticinese clubs and bars. San Lorenzo, apparently considered by Leonardo da Vinci to be the most beautiful church in Milan, was founded in the fourth century, when it was the largest centrally planned church in the western Roman Empire. The current structure is a sixteenth-century renovation of an eleventh-century rebuilding, a shaky edifice under threat from the vibrating tramlines outside. Inside, the most interesting feature is the Cappella di San Aquilino (daily 9am-6pm; L2000/¬1.03), much of which has survived from the fourth century. There are fragments of fourth-century mosaics on the walls, including one in the left apse where the tiles have crumbled away, revealing the artist’s original sketches. Behind the altar, steps lead down to what is left of the original foundations, a jigsaw of fragments of Roman structure looted from an arena.